Wheelchair handling apparatus



June 23, 1970 E. G. WALTER 3,516,559

WHEELCHAIR HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 15, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 6200 6. M4 756 MEN; g. 25%.

AT T URNE'Y June 23, 1970 E. G. WALTER 3,516,559

WHEELCHAIR HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 15, 1968 23 Sheets-Sheet t3 I NV ENTOR. 5004/ 6 1/1 4055 104 l g m ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,516,559 WHEELCHAIR HANDLING APPARATUS Eldon G. Walter, 1711 W. Glenrosa, Phoenix, Ariz. 85015 Filed Feb. 15, 1968, Ser. No. 705,663 Int. Cl. B601) 1/46; B661? 9/14 US. Cl. 214--75 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for handling wheelchair patients, particularly the loading and unloading of patients in a wheelchair into an out of a motor vehicle under full control of the patient sitting in the wheelchair so that the patient unaided can wheel himself to the vehicle, load himself while sitting in the wheelchair into the vehicle and reverse the process with full control and safety for the patient.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) The field of this invention lies in loading and unloading apparatus for motor vehicles, and is particularly directed to a device for handling a patient while in his wheel chair into and out of a motor vehicle.

(2) Heretofore it has been difiicult if not impossible to load and unload a patient while remaining in the wheelchair into or out of a motor vehicle without having the assistance of other persons and lifting the patient out of the chair when placing him in the vehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One of the objects of this invention is to provide a wheelchair handling apparatus by which the patient re mains in the wheelchair while being loaded into and out of the vehicle and can remain in normal sitting position in the chair while riding in the vehicle.

Another object is to provide a wheelchair handling apparatus as recited above in which the patient in the chair can completely manipulate the loading and unloading operations himself without any assistance from anyone else.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DESCRIPTION OF THE 'PREFERIRED EMBODIMENT As an example of one embodiment of this invention, there is shown a wheelchair handling apparatus comprising an upright column 10 having a vertical axis of rotation 10a rotatably supported on a suitable thrust bearing 11 carried in the base plate 12 fixed to the floor 13 of a motor vehicle 14. The upper end of the upright column 10 is journaled on a suitable bearing 15 carried in the support bracket 16 fixed by a suitable mounting plate 17 to the side panel 1 8 of the motor vehicle body 14.

A lifting carriage 16a is slidably mounted for vertical movement on the column 10 and has an idler pulley 17a journaled on a pin 18a fixed in the carriage 16. A bi- 3,516,559 Patented June 23 1970 furcated bracket 19 is mounted on the top of the column 10 and has a cross pin 20 upon which is journaled an idler pulley 21. A lifting cable 22 has one end 23 fixed to the cross pin 20 from which the cable extends downwardly and around the idler pulley 17a, then upwardly over the idler pulley 21 and then downwardly to wrap up on the cable drum 24 which is fixed on the output shaft 25 of a suitable gear reduction unit 26 fixed to the carriage 16a. A reversing drive motor 27 connected to the gear reduction unit 26 is energized from the usual vehicle battery and reversably controlled by the reversing drum switch 28 conveniently located on the lifting carriage 16 for manipulation of its control lever 29 by the patient sitting in the wheelchair 30.

Fixed to and depending downwardly from the lifting carriage 16a is the integral rigid wheelchair support frame 31 comprising a ground engaging plate 32, guide railings 33, and the upright plates 34 tied together by shelf 35 at the upper ends of the plates 34, the shelf being for the convenience of the patient sitting in his wheelchair on the ground engaging plate 32. Suitable restraining belts 36 may be strapped by the patient between the upright plates and the wheelchair 30 to secure it in lifting and lowering position on the ground engaging plate 32.

In use: the patient sitting in his wheelchair at ground level 37 simply runs his wheelchair on the ground engaging plate 32 resting on the ground 37. He then straps on the restraining belts 36 and reaches the control lever 29 of the switch 28, and operates it to energize the motor 27 which causes the cable 22 to wrap up on the drum 24 raising the platform to the required height at position 38, a suitable limit switch (not shown) being utilized to automatically de-energize the motor 27 when the platform 32 reaches the position 38, FIG. 2. Having arrived at the raised position 38, the patient in the wheelchair reaches for the top edge of the door opening at 39 and swings himself into the vehicle to the position 40, FIG. 3. He then reverses the control switch to lower the ground engaging plate to the floor 13 of the vehicle where it remains securely during travel of the vehicle with the patient remaining in and facing forwardly in normal comfortable riding position in the vehicle. Reversal of the above sequence of steps enables the patient to readily discharge himself from the vehicle backdoor down to ground level and to continue on from the vehicle in his wheelchair, all under his own control and without any assistance from someone else.

While the apparatus herein disclosed and described constitutes a preferred form of the invention, it is also to be understood that the apparatus is capable of mechanical alteration without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a motor vehicle having a body and including a floor and a door opening, wheelchair handling apparatus comprising:

(A) a vertically disposed column mounted within said vehicle,

'(B) a lifting carriage mounted for vertical movement on the column and swingable about a vertical axis of the column,

(C) power means interconnected between the carriage and the column energizable to raise and lower the carriage on the column,

(D) a wheel chair receiving and supporting frame mounted on the carriage for carrying a patient in the wheelchair to be loaded and unloaded in and out of the motor vehicle,

(E) the wheelchair receiving and supporting frame includes a ground engaging plate, guide railing on the sides thereof, and upright plates, and including 4 a shelf fixed to top ends of the upright plates and a References Cited control switch on the carriage mounted above said UNITED STATES PATENTS shelf and manipulatable by the patient in the wheel- I chair to reversibly energize and de-energize the power g ig i z means to raise and lower the patient in the wheel- 5 2930499 3/1960 Landen 214 75 chair, located convenient to the patient sitting in 551 3/1965 Wolfe the Wheelchair in the receiving and supporting frame. 3:182:826 5/1965 Mum) 214' 75 2. A Wheelchair handling apparatus as in claim 1 wherein: GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner (F) the power means in item (C) is mounted on the 10 JOHNSON, Assistant Examiner carriage and includes a cable drum and a cable wrappable on the cable drum by energizing the power US. Cl. X.R. means. 214-730 

